


Starting a New Life

by Clockwork



Series: Overlooked [1]
Category: Carrie - Stephen King, Castle Rock (TV), Haven (TV), IT - Stephen King, The Shining - Stephen King, Under The Dome (TV)
Genre: AU, Bad Decisions, Crossover, Cursed, F/M, Fluff, Gen, all worlds are the same, postcanon, roleplay AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 20:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16562495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clockwork/pseuds/Clockwork
Summary: Based on a Roleplay AU wherein Barbie and Julia are on the run post canon and have just found out that Julia is expecting.





	Starting a New Life

When Julia had told him she was pregnant, Barbie had started mentally preparing for everything they were about to face. Not just the ideas of parenthood, worrying about raising them well, diapers, breast or bottle, and the myriad of things that every single parent the world over has to worry about, but also everything that came with them still coping with the forces hunting them down and not knowing when they might descend.

So he had spent days working on ideas for places they could go, where they could set up a home. He had ideas for building supplies, home goods, a food supply, and even how to ensure they could have space for a child, or future children, to play and enjoy life without being entirely aware that things with their family were not as normal as they were with some.

Some of it had meant making contact with the past. Those long before the Dome, back into his schooling, the military, and contacts of those they’d lost in Chester’s Mill, friends from Zenith even.. The oddest thing was finding out that some he’d known his whole life, even not from the area were now in Maine. A friend from boot camp that had been early discharged for an injury was now leading Black Prom tours in Chamberlain. Someone else he knew was working at a gas station in Derry, and one of his cousins was running a fishing boat out of Haven. Most hadn’t lived in the area before, but suddenly more and more he called and wrote to said they’d come up to Maine to get away from the world.

Barbie had no plans to take his family back to Maine, even if he wondered if they could truly escape that calling. 

All he wanted was a few months, some time to think, and get Julia a doctor, and actually plan rather than running and hoping a plan worked. Anything but in Maine, away from his history and the Dome, and all the bits and pieces he was putting together of massacres and deaths and voices and hauntings. Things that made the Dome both seem better and horrible worse all at the same time.

All he wanted was some time and some peace.

Instead he found himself standing on the side of the road with a gun pointed at his back and terrified that in trying to find them a safe place, he’d actually walked them into a trap. His hands were up, shifting to brace his feet. Wishing they had been a bit more clueless and had done more than touch his back with the gun before stepping back. Closer and he might be able to disarm them before they got a shot off.

“I’m not armed.”

“I’m not putting down my gun.” The voice was sharp, female, and muffled. Barbie couldn’t put his finger on it but it sounded as if she was trying to disguise her voice. “Why are you here?”

“I could ask you the same thing. I was told the property was deserted.”

“You were told wrong. It’s closed for the season, but it’s definitely not deserted. So why don’t you get back into your truck and get out of here.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Barbie winced as he heard the gun cock. “I’m the new caretaker. I was told to come up here and set things up, get the heat and all turned on before we moved up here for the season. My phone is on the front seat of the truck. You can call the second to last number and ask for Stuart Ullman. He’ll confirm who I am.”

There is a long moment of silence before she speaks, nothing around them but the sound of the wind and a far off bird.

“What’s your name?”

“Dale Barbara.”

“No. What’s your name?”

He paused, considering what she’s looking for and then he snorts. “Barbie. He’d have told you Barbie and Julia.”

There’s the sound of metal on metal as she eases the hammer back in place and shifting as she puts it on the hood of her car. 

“You can put your hands down. Sorry about that. They get a lot of lookie loos and all up here, and I really don’t need the interruption while I’m working.”

Barbie did as he was told, lowering his arms and slowly turning around. 

“You’re the writer.” It wasn’t a question, making it a clear accusation as his eyes narrowed, looking her over. “He said you would be staying to one wing, and not to bother you between midnight and nine in the morning, but to leave you coffee when we got up.”

“Oh good. I was worried he wouldn’t get that right. He always seems bothered about my hours,” she said, offering a hand. “I’m Jackie Torrance, by the way.”

Even as he took her hand, Barbie paused. “Jack… as in…”

She laughed, nodding as she shook his head. “My uncle, actually. I came up here years ago hoping to find out the truth. Instead I just find myself living here and haven’t gotten myself to leave yet. Not for long. A few months and I get antsy and nervous and then I end up back here and working again.”

“You’re... “ He just stopped, shaking his head. “Isn’t that a risk to take? Coming up here and all? Staying like you do?”

“You’re a guy that got stuck in a bubble city and you’re trapping yourself for the winter in a murder hotel and you’re worried about my sanity?”

“Well, I mean, when you put it that wa… You know who I am then?”

“Everyone knows who you are. Don’t worry though. I know the value of not talking about the things that change your like. You and the reporter need to get away for a while, you’re more than welcome here. I don’t have a phone, and I won’t leave the house for the winter. No one will know you’re here.”

Barbie nodded then, knowing it’s meant to be reassuring but given the history of the hotel, it almost felt like a threat.

“So…?”

“So now we go up to the house, we have a cup of coffee, talk about what’s going to happen over the next few months and I promise not to murder you in the hedgemaze.” She gave a jerk of her head, picking up the shotgun. “Come on. You can leave your truck here and I’ll drive us up. So why would you bring the missus up here after the bubble?”

Moving to get into the passenger’s seat, Barbie truly wondered why, but he knew the answer. It’s one he’d gotten after talking to others, and he suddenly wonders if Jackie might be the only person to understand.

“Because if nothing else, the Overlook is a world where they can’t find us. I was told… I was told it protects its own.”

Jackie looked at him over the top of the car, silent for a long time. “Huh. I guess someone outside of this place did get something right. Get in. I’ll introduce you.”

For a moment Barbie wondered to who, getting in the car and thinking about that. As the hotel came into view though he realized who she meant. She was going to introduce him to the hotel itself, and staring at that rising edifice looming before them, he knew that she wasn’t kidding. He also suspected that if that introduction didn’t go well, they wouldn’t be staying for long at all.


End file.
